5 Ways to Develop Growth Mindset in Students

A study on growth mindset was conducted in 2018 by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in collaboration with the Yidan Prize Foundation. It was found that students with a growth mindset performed better than those who felt like their intelligence was fixed.
PISA assesses the ability of 15-year-olds across 78 countries on their reading, mathematics, science, and skills to overcome challenges. In the research, almost two-thirds of students who participated in PISA possessed a growth mindset.
The concept of growth mindset was developed by Dr. Carol Dweck, a Psychology Professor in Stanford University. She posited that growth revolves around the belief that you can improve intelligence, ability and performance. On the other hand, a person who possesses a fixed mindset believes that his or her intelligence cannot be changed over time.
Countless research has proven that mindset is malleable. This means that helping students become aware of the possibilities of growth can help them improve in all aspects of their lives.
According to Dweck’s theory, schools that advocate a growth mindset can improve students’ learning outcomes and wellbeing. It asserts that students with a growth mindset tend to be more resilient when dealing with challenges, and are more open to trying new things. These students also respond better to feedback, compared to students with a fixed mindset.
Founder of the Yidan Prize, Dr. Charles Chen Yidan said,
“Having a growth mindset is not simply telling students they can achieve any goal, but highlighting the importance of effort and encouraging a willingness to explore new ways to learn.”

Instilling a growth mindset is more than helping students become aware of the concept. It involves a long term commitment from teachers and school leaders to reiterate the importance of growth and create a safe environment for overcoming challenges.
Here are 5 ways schools can help students foster a growth mindset in the classroom:
Stop stigmatising mistakes
Teachers who demonise mistakes in the classroom can lead students to feel embarrassed and less likely to participate in discussions. In fear of being embarrassed, students are less likely to voice their ideas and more likely to cheat in exams. This dampens learning and student confidence, and ultimately leads to a disengaged classroom and poor learning outcomes.
Conversely, if teachers encourage students to see mistakes as learning opportunities, students will become more proactive in finding the right answers. Students who feel more engaged in their own learning journey are more likely to innovate, question and see challenges as a way to grow.
Changing your language
Having a growth mindset means that no one is a ‘natural leader’ or ‘born a mathematician’. It takes time to change the way we speak about skills and talents, but being aware and intentional about how we talk to students can help cultivate an environment for growth.
For instance, instead of declaring a student’s current state by saying he or she isn’t good at science, teachers can add that they are not doing well ‘yet’. This creates room of growth and indicates that a student can indeed become good at science with some effort.
Normalise doing hard things
Struggle is part of life and sometimes how we learn. As humans, we tend to avoid doing difficult things or uncomfortable situations. However, this is counter productive to our growth. If students understand that struggle and doing hard things is part of life, they may be more receptive to challenges and play an active role in finding solutions.
When students are more open to doing hard things, they will understand that ‘difficult’ doesn’t mean ‘impossible’. This encourages them to look beyond the difficulties, attempt complicated tasks and develop new skills as they explore uncharted territory.
Doing hard things also helps develop grit, perseverance, innovation and critical thinking skills among many others. Ultimately, we want students to respond positively to challenges and see them as opportunities instead of threats.
Give productive feedback
Being specific about feedback helps students understand where they went wrong and how to improve. This encourages them to do better the next time and sets them off into the right trajectory. If feedback is vague, students won’t know how to move forward and see it as a mere criticism of their work.
Providing good feedback also makes students more receptive to criticism. The more open they are about receiving feedback, the more likely they are to improve and do better.
Productive feedback also creates a culture where students are more open to share about their learning. They will then also learn to give good feedback to their peers and this helps build a stronger learning culture within the school.
Set goals
When teachers work with students to set goals, there is a target and direction to move towards. This helps students focus on their growth and take intentional steps towards what they want to achieve. As they gradually meet their objectives, students develop confidence that they are indeed able to learn, grow and do better.
This also helps students discover their own strengths and weaknesses. As they try to work towards their goals, they will be able to find out which areas they are lacking skills or knowledge in. When these things surface, they can then work to improve in these areas.
Setting goals also presents challenges that students can overcome. If a goal is too ambitious, teachers can help break them down into more achievable parts and students can work on hitting smaller targets first. Once they get used to overcoming challenges, they are more likely to value growth and experience above merely appearing intelligent.
It takes the intentional effort of many to help students develop a growth mindset and a culture of learning in a school. Schools will reap the benefits of producing forward thinkers and shapers of the future.
Dr. Charles wrote,